In consecutive weeks, the Murray State Racers men’s basketball squad saw Jonathan Stark and Ja Morant honored as Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Week and OVC Freshman of the Week. The OVC weekly awards are voted on the league’s sports information directors.
Out of Munford, Tenn., Stark shared the award with Austin Peay’s Averyl Ugba. Stark helped the Racers begin OVC play last week with wins at home over Eastern Illinois and SIUE. He averaged 24.0 points per game as he hit 57 percent from the field (13-of-24) which included (8-of-14) from the 3-point line. He scored 21 points against EIU and 27 vs SIUE, which was his season-high.
Morant, from Dalzell, S.C. recorded the 17th triple-double in OVC history (and second in Murray State history) when he had 11 points, 10 rebounds and 14 assists in a win over Eastern Illinois on Dec. 28. His 14 assists were the most by an OVC player this season and third-most in MSU single-game history. In the SIUE game, he added 10 points, seven assists and two rebounds. For the week, Morant averaged 10.5 points, 10.5 assists and 6.0 rebounds per game.
(Courtesy MSU Athletics)